The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-10-30
THE STORY or A SHELL.
a Chiid's Shoe Embedded in Abalone-
Discovered After Twenty-Six Years.

THE STORY or A SHELL.
A Child's Shoe Embedded in m Abalone-
Discovered After Twenty-Six Years.
San Francisco Chronicle
Twenty six years ago n b;tIa child toddIad
from its mothers doorstep on tho shores of
Hatmoon bay to its layground on the smooth
peooiy beach, where it was accustomed to pass
the sunny hours In innocent play gathering
shining shells, bright pebbles and CAV sea
MOSES Co carry homo to add TO its little hoard of
treasures. There WAS no thought of danger in
the mothers mind As she saw her little one go
with unsteady steps down towards the shore,
where the wavelets. tapping on the
strand, were throwing MP the objects
for which the little toddler made a
daily search. The hours passed on, and at length
the mother becoming anxious at the prolonged
home. She scanned the long stretch of the
beach. but the little one was nowhere to be SEEM
The tide which was at the ebb when the little
one left her home had come in, and there was
nothing but white Sand to be seen as far az the
eye could reach. A search among the neigh
bors' houses brought tidings of the little one,
and the mother: now thoroughly alarmed. as
sisted by the other members of the family, be-
gan an anxious search for the missing babe. The
afternoon and evening wore away. and through
the night tho friends and neighbors kept MP the
search among the sandhills and shrubs which
lined the beach. but without avail. No trace
could be found Of the child.
The hours heightened Into days. and the
search had been abandoned so far as hopes of
finding the child alive were concerned, but still
the sorrowing mother made her daily search
along the beach, where her baby had been wont
to play, hoping to find something which would
give a least o clew to the fate of her darling.
One day, the third fourth after the disap-
pearance of the child. the mother found little
bundle of clothing. wet and torn by the waves
which covered the remains of her little one. the
body having been cast up by the sea during the
night
Catching the body up, she ran With it to the
little house, from which the light seemed to have
fled with the loss of the child.
The little body was prepared by tender hands
for burial, but it was found that the right foot
of the little one was missing It was supposed
that the child had fallen from q reef of rocks
which ran out into deep water and had been
drowned. and that some fish monster had
eaten off the foot There seemed to be no
mystery about the death, and the other children
OF the family were won't to listen with as
the mother told in the cleaning how the little
sister wandered away from home and was
drowned. The children grew up and married
and had little ones of their own. and the grand
her little baby girl went out to play and was
killed by the cruel sea-
Simple as the death of the child seemed at the
time. II turns out to have been of those
mysteries of tho which are only revealed by
accident short time ago one of the of
tho old lady. and brother of the lost girl,
picked the beach piece of large abalone
shell which had been thrown up by the tide. He
was attracted by the bright colors of the shell,
and as he turned the shell to look at the inside,
he was astonished to find attached to tho inter
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child's shoe Even to the little break in the toe.
where the leather had worn away, every detail
was reproduced in the brilliant colors which
characteristic of the interior of the abalone she'll
Little thinking OF the mystery revealed by the
reproduction by nature of baby's shoe, the
young nan carried the shell home as q curiosity
The first person TO whom he showed it was his
mother No sooner did the old lady the cur
iositv than she exclaimed 1T Is my babys
shoe! The shoe of my little girl that was lost
twenty six years ago"
The rest of the family ridculed tho idea, but
going to a drawer such IS most mothers have
in their house she produced the mate to the
shoe. careful comparison showed that the
lime incrusted shoe in the shell and the memento
of the dead child, carefully kept by q loving
monrned her little one, were undoubtedly mates.
The mystery of the child's death was revealed
ct last. Any who knows tho nature and
habits of the abalone can readily understand
what occurred. Tho little ono had ventured out
on the rocky reef, and in her clam bering had
slipped from the shiny, moss-covered rocks into
more than voting would have happened to
her, but as fate would have it her tiny foot
slipped between the rock and the edge of hugo
abalone which was clinging to the rock The
she'll at once closed on the tender ankle and
the little one was prisoner, to be held till the
rising tide swept over her and put end to the
innocent life It may be that she thrown
into the water and held by the wick like grip of
the univalve so that her agony was brief, or she
may have been held until the slowly rising
waters choked her feeble cries for help
Such cases are not unknown. A few years ago
q Chinese was frequently seen- in San Diego
whose right hand. with the exception of the
thumb and forefinger, gene. The story
told by his mates was that while hunting aba
lones on the reef he incautiously inserted his
8 myers under the sharp edge of an abaone shell.
Before he could withdraw them the shell had
:losed down. He lay the rock held by the
hand until the tide began to come in Seeing
his danger and realizing that he had only him
self to depend upon for aid. he managed to get
,ut his knife with his left hand. and by dint of
hard work hacked off the imprisoned fingers and
released himself.
On another occasion gentleman connected
with one of the newspapers in this city, was
with some friends on the reefs near
Cypress Point, at Monterey His companions
had gone ahead. and as he hurried on to over
Jake them, he slipped in a hole in the reef. His
loot went in to the mouth, it may be called,
If an abalone To his horror he was unable to
sxtricate himself. 1t was just about tbs turn .
If tide. and realizing his danger, he shouted lus-
lily for help. Fortunately the other members
IF the party were not too far away to hear him.
md they returned to his One of the
party stripped and plunged into the pool, and
with a large knife cut the cartilage with which
The mollusc held the she'll clasped to the rock.
q ad heso not been at hand he would have been
drowned by the incoming tide. and in all proba-
,ility his fate would forever have remained
mystery
The Modern Guillotine.
New York Epoch.
The guillotine was called by criminals the
Abbaye de Monte-a Regret signifying that it
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